10Be meltwater signal in Orca basin sediments,Gulf of Mexico

An increase in the cosmogenic beryllium-10 content of the Orca basin sediments due to the flooding of the Gulf of Mexico (GM) by meltwaters during the late Wisconsin interglacial is reported. A strong negative correlation (γ =-0.99) betweenδ ¹⁸ O (in the range o f-1.5‰ to +0.5‰) and¹⁰Be/Al ratio is seen. During intense flooding reflected by a decrease in δ¹⁸O by ∼ 2‰, this correlation may not hold as some of the sediments with low¹⁰Be/Al ratio and deposited on the shelf and slope regions of the GM during the earlier glacial period would also be washed into the basin. The deposited sediment would then be a mixture with a¹⁰Be/Al ratio lower than expected from the correlation